Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Still Saturday: Alone with the Alone

May 12, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

 

Silence is not simply the absence of noise or the shutdown of communication with the outside world, but rather a process of coming to stillness. Silent solitude forges true speech. I’m not speaking of physical isolation; solitude here means being alone with the Alone, experiencing the transcendent Other and growing in awareness of one’s identity as the beloved. It is impossible to know another person intimately without spending time together. Silence makes this solitude a reality. It has been said, “Silence is solitude practiced in action.” ~Brennan Manning in Abba’s Child

Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details above, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please don’t feel pressured to comment. Simply take some time to gaze long and drink deep.

Rest.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Gayle says

    May 12, 2012 at 12:42 am

    I am really loving Still Saturday Sandra! Today I went with my camera and captured a few photos and put together a simple, “still” post.
    Love your post on silence. I recently worshiped with a Quaker congregation and found their silent service healing and beautiful.
    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Gayle

    • Sandra says

      May 12, 2012 at 8:58 am

      Love that you are loving it. Your photos today were lovely–and made me think. I’d love to worship with Quakers sometime.

  2. Shelly Miller says

    May 12, 2012 at 1:59 am

    Love this quote by Manning, he is one of my favorites. I often need to read his words more than once to let them steep. And I am wondering if that is your grandaughter in the photo. Beautiful!
    I am finding myself memorized by stillness in the chaos of city life as I watch people here in England.

    • Sandra says

      May 12, 2012 at 8:57 am

      Yes, it’s Grace last summer in the upper peninsula.

      Stillness in the chaos–isn’t that what we’re all seeking?

      I’m hoping for some still time to go back and soak in your latest posts. xoxo

  3. Lyli@3dLessons4Life says

    May 12, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Love how the light shimmers on the water in this picture — I want to go there. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      May 12, 2012 at 9:43 am

      😀 😀

  4. Michelle DeRusha says

    May 12, 2012 at 9:30 am

    Honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced that kind of silence and communion with God.

    Love the dazzling water in your photo, Sandy.

    • Sandra says

      May 12, 2012 at 9:56 am

      I don’t think I ever have, either, Michelle. And I’m craving it.

  5. Patricia @ Pollywog Creek says

    May 12, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Beautiful – photo, quote, the stillness of heart it inspires. Thank you for this, Sandra. xox

    • Sandra says

      May 12, 2012 at 9:57 am

      Thank you–for being. xoxo

  6. Monica Sharman says

    May 12, 2012 at 10:06 am

    I love that “alone” is not the same as “lonely.” 🙂

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:49 pm

      🙂

  7. Jen says

    May 12, 2012 at 11:30 am

    I have so much to learn about silence and stillness. As one who has grown up being afraid of silence, there is room in my heart for healing.

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:54 pm

      I’d like to know more about that, Jen…

  8. Heather Kopp says

    May 12, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    Hi Sandra, I just wanted to say hi and I like your blog. Anytime I see someone quoting Manning or Buechner, I know have found a friend.:)

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:55 pm

      😀 Nouwen. Do you like him?

  9. Laurie Collett says

    May 12, 2012 at 3:37 pm

    Beautiful photo & post! Love in Him,
    Laurie

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:55 pm

      Thank you, Laurie.

  10. Shari @ Leaving A Legacy says

    May 12, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Stunning picture. Beautiful words.

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:56 pm

      Thanks, Shari. I’m still meditating on them.

  11. Carol J. Garvin says

    May 13, 2012 at 1:37 am

    I’m late… not much of Saturday left here. But I wanted to say how much I appreciate these thoughts on silence, stillness and solitude. There is such refreshment in silence. It’s when we listen in silence that we are most apt to hear God’s whisper.

    Blessings to you, Sandy. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day.

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:58 pm

      Never too late for you, my friend. I’m glad you’re finding some nourishment. I’m so encouraged by all those who come by to link and share a piece of beauty.

  12. Rachel@GeekUnorthodox says

    May 13, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    I enjoyed joining in for Silent Saturday, thank you. I love the stillness your photo inspires. Happy Mothers Day!

    • Sandra says

      May 13, 2012 at 10:59 pm

      Welcome, Rachel. Hope you’ve had a restful (and fun) weekend.

  13. Jennifer Richardson says

    May 14, 2012 at 11:47 am

    oh how i love Brennan Manning
    and this silence and solitude
    he speaks so lovingly of
    …..makes my breath go deep
    and sweet
    just to dive alongside of you
    for a bit:)
    thank you,
    Jennifer

    • Sandra says

      May 17, 2012 at 9:06 pm

      Honored to dive with you, Jen.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in